This is a glossary

Glossary

A glossary, also known as an idioticon, vocabulary, or clavis, is an alphabetical list of terms in a particular domain of knowledge with the definitions for those terms...

 for the terminology applied in the foundations of quantum mechanics

Quantum mechanics

Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...

 and quantum metaphysics (or called quantum philosophy), a subfield of philosophy of physics

Philosophy of physics

In philosophy, the philosophy of physics studies the fundamental philosophical questions underlying modern physics, the study of matter and energy and how they interact. The philosophy of physics begins by reflecting on the basic metaphysical and epistemological questions posed by physics:...

.

Note that this is a highly debated field, hence different researchers may have different definitions on the terms.

non-classical properties of quantum mechanics

nonseperability
nonlocality
superposition of states

see also: Schrödinger's cat

Schrödinger's cat

Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment, usually described as a paradox, devised by Austrian physicist Erwin Schrödinger in 1935. It illustrates what he saw as the problem of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics applied to everyday objects. The scenario presents a cat that might be...

Quantum Phenomenon

decoherence
uncertainty principle

Uncertainty principle

In quantum mechanics, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle states a fundamental limit on the accuracy with which certain pairs of physical properties of a particle, such as position and momentum, can be simultaneously known...

entanglement

Entanglement

Entanglement may refer to:* Quantum entanglement* Orientation entanglement* Entanglement * Entanglement of polymer chains, see Reptation* Wire entanglement...

See also: Bell's theorem

Bell's theorem

In theoretical physics, Bell's theorem is a no-go theorem, loosely stating that:The theorem has great importance for physics and the philosophy of science, as it implies that quantum physics must necessarily violate either the principle of locality or counterfactual definiteness...

, EPR paradox

EPR paradox

The EPR paradox is a topic in quantum physics and the philosophy of science concerning the measurement and description of microscopic systems by the methods of quantum physics...

, CHSH inequality

CHSH inequality

In physics, the CHSH Bell test is an application of Bell's theorem, intended to distinguish between the entanglement hypothesis of quantum mechanics and local hidden variable theories. CHSH stands for John Clauser, Michael Horne, Abner Shimony and Richard Holt, who described it in a much-cited...

.

quantum teleportation

Quantum teleportation

Quantum teleportation, or entanglement-assisted teleportation, is a process by which a qubit can be transmitted exactly from one location to another, without the qubit being transmitted through the intervening space...

superselection rule
quantum erasure
delayed choice experiment
Quantum Zeno effect

Quantum Zeno effect

The quantum Zeno effect is a name coined by George Sudarshan and Baidyanath Misra of the University of Texas in 1977 in their analysis of the situation in which an unstable particle, if observed continuously, will never decay. One can nearly "freeze" the evolution of the system by measuring it...

premeasurement
ideal measurement

Terms used in Formalism for Quantum Mechanics

Born's rule
collapse postulate
measurement
relative state
decoherent histories

Metaphysics (ontology, epistemology or analytic philosophy)

objective and subjective
ontic and epistemic
intrinsic and extrinsic
agnostic
realism

Realism

Realism, Realist or Realistic are terms that describe any manifestation of philosophical realism, the belief that reality exists independently of observers, whether in philosophy itself or in the applied arts and sciences. In this broad sense it is frequently contrasted with Idealism.Realism in the...

determinism

Determinism

Determinism is the general philosophical thesis that states that for everything that happens there are conditions such that, given them, nothing else could happen. There are many versions of this thesis. Each of them rests upon various alleged connections, and interdependencies of things and...

causality

Causality

Causality is the relationship between an event and a second event , where the second event is understood as a consequence of the first....

empiricism

Empiricism

Empiricism is a theory of knowledge that asserts that knowledge comes only or primarily via sensory experience. One of several views of epistemology, the study of human knowledge, along with rationalism, idealism and historicism, empiricism emphasizes the role of experience and evidence,...

rationalism

Rationalism

In epistemology and in its modern sense, rationalism is "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification" . In more technical terms, it is a method or a theory "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive"...

scientific realism

Scientific realism

Scientific realism is, at the most general level, the view that the world described by science is the real world, as it is, independent of what we might take it to be...

psychophysical parallelism

Psychophysical parallelism

Psychophysical parallelism, in philosophy, is the theory that mental and bodily experiences occur in tandem with each other, but without any type of causal interaction; it denies the interaction between the body and the mind. In other words, the mind and body are two independent phenomena but...

Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics

List of interpretations:

Bohmian Mechanics
de Broglie–Bohm theory
consistent histories

Consistent histories

In quantum mechanics, the consistent histories approach is intended to give a modern interpretation of quantum mechanics, generalising the conventional Copenhagen interpretation and providing a natural interpretation of quantum cosmology...

Copenhagen interpretation

Copenhagen interpretation

The Copenhagen interpretation is one of the earliest and most commonly taught interpretations of quantum mechanics. It holds that quantum mechanics does not yield a description of an objective reality but deals only with probabilities of observing, or measuring, various aspects of energy quanta,...

conventional interpretation

Usually refer to the Copenhagen interpretation.

Ensemble Interpretation

Ensemble Interpretation

The ensemble interpretation, or statistical interpretation of quantum mechanics, is an interpretation that can be viewed as a minimalist interpretation; it is a quantum mechanical interpretation that claims to make the fewest assumptions associated with the standard mathematical formalization...

Everett interpretation

See relative-state interpretation.

hydrodynamic interpretation
Ghirardi–Rimini–Weber theory (GRW theory / GRW effect)
many-worlds interpretation

Many-worlds interpretation

The many-worlds interpretation is an interpretation of quantum mechanics that asserts the objective reality of the universal wavefunction, but denies the actuality of wavefunction collapse. Many-worlds implies that all possible alternative histories and futures are real, each representing an...

many-minds interpretation

Many-minds interpretation

The many-minds interpretation of quantum mechanics extends the many-worlds interpretation by proposing that the distinction between worlds should be made at the level of the mind of an individual observer. The concept was first introduced in 1970 by H...

modal interpretations
objective collapse theory

Objective collapse theory

Objective collapse theories are an approach to the interpretational problems of quantum mechanics. They are realistic, indeterministic and reject hidden variables...

orthodox interpretation

Usually refer to the Copenhagen interpretation.

Penrose interpretation

Penrose interpretation

The Penrose interpretation is a prediction of Sir Roger Penrose about the relationship between quantum mechanics and general relativity. Penrose proposes that a quantum state remains in superposition until the difference of space-time curvature attains a significant level...

Pilot wave

Pilot wave

In theoretical physics, the Pilot Wave theory was the first known example of a hidden variable theory, presented by Louis de Broglie in 1927. Its more modern version, the Bohm interpretation,...

Quantum logic

Quantum logic

In quantum mechanics, quantum logic is a set of rules for reasoning about propositions which takes the principles of quantum theory into account...

relative-state interpretation
relational quantum mechanics

Relational quantum mechanics

Relational quantum mechanics is an interpretation of quantum mechanics which treats the state of a quantum system as being observer-dependent, that is, the state is the relation between the observer and the system. This interpretation was first delineated by Carlo Rovelli in a 1994 preprint, and...

stochastic interpretation

Stochastic interpretation

The stochastic interpretation is an interpretation of quantum mechanics.The modern application of stochastics to quantum mechanics involves the assumption of spacetime stochasticity, the idea that the small-scale structure of spacetime is undergoing both metric and topological fluctuations , and...

transactional interpretation

Transactional interpretation

The transactional interpretation of quantum mechanics describes quantum interactions in terms of a standing wave formed by retarded and advanced waves. It was first proposed in 1986 by John G...

Uncategorized items

quantum Darwinism

Quantum darwinism

Quantum Darwinism is a theory explaining the emergence of the classical world from the quantum world as due to a process of Darwinian natural selection; where the many possible quantum states are selected against in favor of a stable pointer state. It is proposed by Wojciech Zurek and a group of...

completeness
relativistic measurement theory
consciousness and observer role
quantum correlation

Quantum correlation

In Bell test experiments the term quantum correlation has come to mean the expectation value of the product of the outcomes on the two sides. In other words, the expected change in physical characteristics as one quantum system passes through an interaction site...

quantum indeterminism
stochastic collapse
pointer state
quantum causality
postselection

Postselection

In probability theory, to postselect is to condition a probability space upon the occurrence of a given event. In symbols, once we postselect for an event E, the probability of some other event F changes from Pr[F] to the conditional probability Pr[F|E].For a discrete probability space, Pr[F|E] =...

entropy

Entropy

Entropy is a thermodynamic property that can be used to determine the energy available for useful work in a thermodynamic process, such as in energy conversion devices, engines, or machines. Such devices can only be driven by convertible energy, and have a theoretical maximum efficiency when...

quantum cosmology

Person

Early researchers (before 1950s)

• Max Born
  Max Born
  Max Born was a German-born physicist and mathematician who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics and supervised the work of a number of notable physicists in the 1920s and 30s...
  
  
• Albert Einstein
  Albert Einstein
  Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
  
  
• Niels Bohr
  Niels Bohr
  Niels Henrik David Bohr was a Danish physicist who made foundational contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922. Bohr mentored and collaborated with many of the top physicists of the century at his institute in...
  
  
• J. S. Bell
• Hugh Everett III
• David Bohm
  David Bohm
  David Joseph Bohm FRS was an American-born British quantum physicist who contributed to theoretical physics, philosophy, neuropsychology, and the Manhattan Project.-Youth and college:...
  
  

1950s-2010s

• Roland Omnès
  Roland Omnès
  Roland Omnès is the author of several books which aim to close the gap between our common sense experience of the classical world and the complex, formal mathematics which is now required to accurately describe reality at its most fundamental level.- Biography :Omnès is currently Professor...
  
  
• W. H. Zurek
• Erich Joos
• Max Tegmark
  Max Tegmark
  Max Tegmark is a Swedish-American cosmologist. Tegmark is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and belongs to the scientific directorate of the Foundational Questions Institute.-Early life:...
  
  
• Maximilian Schlosshauer
• H. D. Zeh
• David Deutsch
  David Deutsch
  David Elieser Deutsch, FRS is an Israeli-British physicist at the University of Oxford. He is a non-stipendiary Visiting Professor in the Department of Atomic and Laser Physics at the Centre for Quantum Computation in the Clarendon Laboratory of the University of Oxford...
  
  
• Robert B. Griffiths
• Bernard d'Espagnat
  Bernard d'Espagnat
  Bernard d'Espagnat is a French theoretical physicist, philosopher of science, and author, best known for his work on the nature of reality....
  
  

See also

• time arrow
• quantum chaos
  Quantum chaos
  Quantum chaos is a branch of physics which studies how chaotic classical dynamical systems can be described in terms of quantum theory. The primary question that quantum chaos seeks to answer is, "What is the relationship between quantum mechanics and classical chaos?" The correspondence principle...
  
  
• probability interpretations
  Probability interpretations
  The word probability has been used in a variety of ways since it was first coined in relation to games of chance. Does probability measure the real, physical tendency of something to occur, or is it just a measure of how strongly one believes it will occur? In answering such questions, we...
  
  
  • relative frequency approach
  • probability theory As extended logic, decision theory
• History of quantum mechanics
  History of quantum mechanics
  The history of quantum mechanics, as it interlaces with the history of quantum chemistry, began essentially with a number of different scientific discoveries: the 1838 discovery of cathode rays by Michael Faraday; the 1859-1860 winter statement of the black body radiation problem by Gustav...
  
  

Links

• http://users.ox.ac.uk/~mert0130/teaching/qmreading.doc
• Philosophy of Physics - A guide for the aspiring researcher
• Quantum Mechanics (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)